The purpose of The Christian Working Woman is to equip and encourage Christians in the workplace to love Christ more, to live their daily lives by biblical principles, and to go to their jobs as ambassadors for Jesus Christ. For more information on our ministry go to: www.christianworkingwoman.org.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

is WORRY choking your faith?

Our invited guest Florence MacKenzie wrote this article for managing your emotions, published in Just Between Us, Winter 2011.

Are you a
worrier? I am. After all, there often seems
good reason to worry. Am I not being irresponsible if I don’t worry in some
situations? Could it be that, by worrying, I’m actually making it less likely
that the thing I’m worried about will happen? Is worry, therefore, serving a
useful function? The answer, of course, is NO!

The word worrycomes from the Old English, meaning
to choke or strangle. It also carries the idea of being pulled in different
directions. Worry pulls you apart. It’s very divisive. Have you ever noticed
that worry divides your mind? You find you cannot focus on the task in front of
you because worrying about something else distracts you and divides your
attention. Worry also divides your will. It’s hard to make even the smallest
decisions when you’re worried. One minute you’re making one decision, the next
you’re pulled in the opposite direction and are considering making a different
decision. Worry also divides your emotions. Sometimes it appears you’re in
control of your feelings; at other times worry pulls your emotions in all sorts
of directions so you end up not really knowing how you feel.

I
was reading in Matthew’s gospel recently where Jesus gave some straight talk on
worry to His disciples. He told them not to worry about everyday life; or about
having enough food, drink and clothes; or about tomorrow. He concluded his
teaching on worry by commenting on what little faith His disciples had. This made
me wonder about the connection between worry and faith. Did they have a problem
with worry because they had a problem with faith? If so, might the same be true
of me? Perhaps if my faith were stronger and healthier, worry wouldn’t have
such a stranglehold over me. This realization came to me when I was walking
around our yard. Let me tell you about it.

We
live in a house with a large outdoor area which is mostly made up of grass.
Neither my husband nor I are keen gardeners and, as a result, the quality of
our grass is less than perfect. As I looked at the grass on my recent
walk-about, I could see all sorts of things growing there that we hadn’t
planted, like moss, clover, dandelion, and lots of others I couldn’t name! Somewhere
among these weeds was the grass we had planted but it was being crowded out by
these invaders. That’s when it hit me – the unwelcome weeds taking over our
grass were
like worries that choke the life of faith in us.

But
what could we do about it? Given the huge size of the yard, there was no way we
could pull these weeds out individually. We knew from past experience that new
weeds would soon take root to replace the ones we had removed. I had recently
read that the key to controlling weeds is to keep the grass as healthy as
possible. So, instead of the weeds crowding out the grass, perhaps the grass
would begin to crowd out the weeds if we spent more time tending it by feeding
and watering it regularly. From that point on, growing a healthy lawn became
our main gardening goal! Do you see how this relates to the need to focus more
on building up the “grass” of our faith rather than concentrating primarily on
getting rid of the “weeds” of worry in our lives?

But
how might you do this? Why not try these “faith-builders”:

·FOCUSon the truth that it is impossible to please God without faith
(Hebrews11:6).

·FEEDyour faith by reminding yourself of the many promises found in the
Bible.

·FILLunoccupied moments with praise to God, for example, while stopped
at a red light or standing in line at the grocery store.

·FREEup a few minutes each day to appreciate how blessed you are─and
then thank God for this!

·FOLLOWthrough on replenishing relationships by getting in touch with
people who will refresh you spiritually and emotionally.

·FINISHthe day by thanking God for the faith He has given you and ask Him
to show you how you can keep translating it into action.

Let’s make it really hard for worry to choke our faith!

Florence
MacKenzie has a degree in psychology and a diploma in expository preaching. She
is the author of several
books, including Destructive Emotions: Facing up to Guilt, Fear and Anger. She also ministers with her
husband James through Equipped for Living (http://www.equippedforliving.org).